Linus, Benjamin (Ben)
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AKA:Henry Gale
Resided in: Unknown
Occupation: Unknown (Said He Owns Mining Company)
Reason for Travel: Unknown
Flight Seat #: N/A
Ben was the man who was captured on the island by Danielle, who always knew that he was an Other. Danielle handed him over to Sayid, after shooting him with a crossbow, but not without warning that he would lie for a long time.
Sayid at this point takes him back to the Swan, where he summons Locke and Jack. Jack treats his wound, and then moves him to the armory. Once inside, Sayid closes the door and locks himself inside with the man in order to question and torture him, against Jack's objection.
Ben lies and tells Sayid that his name is Henry Gale, and that he and his wife were trying to cross the Pacific in a hot air balloon, when they crashed on the island four months ago. He tells the story that three weeks prior to that time, his wife Jennifer became sick and died after a couple of days with delirium and fever. He maintains that he and his wife stayed in a cave near the beach close to their crash site about two days away from the Swan Station. He goes on to say that he is from Minnesota, and that he met his wife at the University of Minnesota. He claims he was crossing the Pacific in a balloon because he was rich, and that he made his money by selling his company - a mining company that mined non-metallic minerals.
Ben is kept locked in the armory while they decide what to do with him, and after Sayid, is serially interrogated by Eko, and Ana. He is given The Brothers Karamazov by Locke to read, and quotes a section of the book that discusses how martyrs and prophets are perceived differently.
Ana-Lucia convinces him to draw a map to where the balloon is located, to prove his story, and she enlists Sayid and Charlie's help to help find it. When the Swan lockdown happens, trapping Locke and Ben inside, Ben dutifully helps pry open the door. Unfortunately, Locke gets caught under it, and the Prisoner has to be the one to crawl through the vent to the computer room, as instructed by Locke. He later returns to help him out from under the door. However, he tells Locke he never inputed the numbers to reset the countdown, and that nothing happened except that he heard "the sounds of a large magnet."
Sayid returns from the balloon-finding expedition to prove that it does exist, but that "Henry's" story isn't entirely truthful. The grave that Henry said he buried his wife held the remains of a man, with the driver's license of the real Henry Gale, a black man. Sayid believes that the Prisoner may have tortured him before he died.
One day, when Ana-Lucia brings him food, she asks him what the Others are, and he mumbles "we're scientists." When she comes closer to hear what he said, he attacks her and nearly strangles her to death. Angered by this, she steals Sawyer's gun and tries to shoot him, but loses her nerve. She gives the gun to Michael, who in a twist, kills her and frees the Prisoner.
Later on, Michael betrays his friends, and leads Kate, Sawyer, Jack and Hurley to an ambush by the Others. This man, former Prisoner, now comes out on the dock and appears to be the leader of this group. He reprimands Tom for taking his beard disguise off. He tells Michael that as a reward for his loyalty, they will honor their word, and free him and Walt. He gives them a boat and tells them to sail towards compass bearing 325, promising rescue. When Michael asks "Who are you people?," this man replies "We're the good guys."
The Prisoner's real name was revealed in "Tale of Two Cities" as being Ben. He is the highest-ranking leader of the Others that has been shown so far, and monitors Sawyer, Kate and Jack through a video surveillance system. Eventually, Jack learns that he has a tumor on his spine, which Ben asks him to remove, in exchange for the safety of Kate and Sawyer. Juliet, meanwhile, secretly asks Jack to kill him during the surgery, and make it look like an accident, though on the surface, she appears to be on the same side as him with the Others. Jack finally agrees to the surgery, but while Ben is under anesthesia, cuts a vessel in his kidney in order to hold his life hostage and buy his friends time to get away. This allows Sawyer and Kate to escape the island Hydra station is on, with Karl in tow.Alex was with them, but Juliet convinces her to stay behind, telling her that she knows her 'father' would try to take it out on Karl and the other survivors if she were not there. It is not yet known if Ben is Alex's biological father, or if she just believes this to be true.
